Soil cap eliminates exposure and improves water quality

Flint Industries Inc. | Metter, Ga., United States

The project, which won an Outstanding Achievement Award in the geosynthetic projects category of the 2007 International Achievement Awards, involved installing a soil cap over a 55-acre sludge pond’s surface to eliminate exposure and improve surface water and groundwater quality in the area. The capping system required the installation of Flintex high-strength woven geotextile over roughly 45 acres, and the installation of BX1400 geogrid over approximately 10 acres. A 40 mil HDPE membrane and various layers of soil were then installed over this reinforcement. This is the largest known project requiring the deployment of such a large panel of high-strength geotextile over a semi-dry sludge pond with low vane shears. Also, the seaming equipment utilized and the proprietary design of the geotextile fabric permitted unusually high seam strengths, only previously achievable in a controlled manufacturing environment.